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Name
Date
Class
Properties of Minerals 3-1
On a separate sheet of paper, explain how one mineral differs from another.
Name
Date
Class
Properties of Minerals 3-1
Understanding Main Ideas
Answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper.
1. List the five characteristics necessary for a substance to be a mineral.
2. In general, what are three ways in which minerals form?
Fill in the missing properties in the table below.
Mineral Property
Test
3.
Perform scratch test
Color
Observe surface of mineral
4.
Observe color of mineral’s powder
Luster
Observe how mineral reflects light
5.
Find mass per unit volume
6.
Observe number and angle of crystal faces
Cleavage and Fracture
Break mineral apart to see if it splits along flat surfaces
Building Vocabulary
Match each term with its definition by writing the letter of the correct definition in the
right column on the line beside the term in the left column.
7. ____ streak
a. formed from materials that were not a part of living
things
8. ____ fracture
b. the property of splitting easily along flat surfaces
9. ____ Mohs hardness scale
c. how a mineral breaks apart in an irregular way
10. ____ crystal
d. the repeating pattern of a mineral’s particles in a solid
11. ____ cleavage
e. the color of a mineral’s powder
12. ____ inorganic
f.
13. ____ solution
g. a mixture in which one substance is dissolved in
another
a ranking of minerals from softest to hardest
Name
Date
Class
Properties of Minerals 3-1
Fill in the blank to complete each statement.
1. A mineral’s streak is the color of its ________________.
2. Quartz, gold, and calcite are examples of ______________, but coal is not.
3. Geologists use the _____________ test to determine the hardness of a mineral.
4. The repeating pattern of a mineral’s particles forms a solid called a(n)
_______________.
5. A narrow channel or slab of a mineral that is different from the surrounding rock is
called a(n) _____________.
6. Slow cooling of hot magma leads to the formation of ______________ crystals.
Write the letter of the correct answer on the line at the left.
7. ____Which is not an essential characteristic
of any mineral?
8. ____ Which is not a method by which
minerals form?
A
crystal structure
A
organic processes
B
solid
B
water evaporation from a solution
C
formed by inorganic processes
C
cooling of magma or lava
D
naturally occurring
D
decrystallization
9. ____ Which term describes how a mineral
looks when it breaks apart in an irregular
way?
A
fracture
B
cleavage
C
luster
D
crystallization
10. ____ Which lists the minerals in the correct
order from softest to hardest?
A
talc, diamond, calcite, feldspar
B
diamond, feldspar, calcite, talc
C
talc, calcite, feldspar, diamond
D
calcite, feldspar, talc, diamond